by Donald Eng
HARTFORD, CT — Dozens tenants were joined by state legislators and Gov. Ned Lamont Wednesday to call on a Shelton-based property management firm to improve conditions at a half dozen complexes and buildings in Middletown, Meriden, New London, and East Lyme.
The tenants have formed a tenant union in an effort to combine voices, said Luke Melonakos, a union organizer.
Mark Ball, a Middletown resident living at 142 South Main Street, said basic day-to-day living had become a struggle.
“The building itself, you can’t buzz anybody in,” he said. “Who’s going to get me my medication?”
Ball, who uses a wheelchair, said he once was stuck in the elevator for over an hour, and the elevator has since been out of service.
“This is not how we’re supposed to live,” he said.
State Sen. Martha Marx speaks about tenants’ rights at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford, CT on July 22, 2026. Credit: Donald Eng / CTNewsJunkie
Other tenants complained of rainwater leaking into their units, excessive rent hikes and long-term neighbors being evicted without cause.
State Sen. Matt Lesser, D-Middletown, said he had emailed the building’s management company, Alpha Capital, about the situation, asking about people with physical disabilities and wheelchairs living on the second and third floor of an apartment building without a working elevator.
Lesser said he received an email response from Alpha’s CEO Tyler Smith.
“And he said, ‘Well actually, senator, I don’t have to provide a working elevator, and so I can just abandon the elevator. And that’s what I intend to do,’ Lesser said. “So it’s not that we’re waiting on a part and we’re going to fix it. It’s that we’re never going to fix this elevator. And if there are folks in wheelchairs on the second and third floor, you can’t make me do anything.”
Reached via email, Alpha Capital responded to the press conference with an emailed statement from Smith saying the company would not comment on individual tenant matters.
The company said it was committed to providing safe, quality housing and said many properties it acquired had experienced years of deferred maintenance and significant underinvestment.
“Since acquiring these communities, we have invested millions of dollars into renovating and improving these properties for the benefit of both current and future residents,” according to the statement. “We understand that changes in ownership can be difficult, particularly for long-term residents, and we do not dismiss those concerns. We remain committed to communicating directly with our residents and working to address concerns responsibly.”
Lesser, in a letter to Smith co-signed by nine other legislators who represent communities with tenant unions, acknowledged that some of the company’s actions were within the law, but they represented “cause for moral and social concern.”
He asked the company to engage the tenants in meaningful dialog, and requested Smith attend the Wednesday meeting with the tenant union.
In a response, Smith said he respectfully disagreed with Lesser’s characterization of conditions at the properties.
“Alpha Capital acquires and rehabilitates aging housing stock that has often experienced years of deferred maintenance and significant underinvestment prior to our ownership,” he wrote. “Since acquiring these communities, we have invested substantially in renovating and improving these properties to preserve and enhance Connecticut’s housing stock.”
While he declined to attend the meeting, he added that he and the company “remain committed to operating responsibly, continuing to invest in the communities we own, and maintaining open communication with our residents.”
Lamont praised the tenants’ efforts, saying there was strength in numbers.
“If you want to have a seat at the table, you organize,” he said. “I think we found that out in labor over the years, we found that out in politics over the years and we’re finding that out in the tenants union.”
Lamont said the current tight housing market had led some landlords to believe they could take advantage of people.
“Well, not here in Connecticut,” he said. “Not when tenants organize, stand up and make sure they get a place at the table.”
In addition to moral support, Lamont and the legislators at the event cited legislative action like the introduction of fair rent commissions, and just cause eviction legislation, which did not pass in the recent legislative session, but Lamont said would be back in 2027.
“We didn’t quite get that over the finish line, we’re going to get that done this next (legislative session),” he said.
The bill, Senate Bill 257, would have required landlords to show cause before evicting tenants. The bill, which was cosponsored by about 70 legislators, received a favorable report out of the Housing Committee, but was not taken up by the full Senate before the session ended.
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